


Repeat

by sayijo



Category: Lego Ninjago
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Gen, Gore, Hurt/Comfort, Physical Abuse, Swearing, Verbal Abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-02
Updated: 2019-09-02
Packaged: 2020-10-05 06:16:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,937
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20484239
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sayijo/pseuds/sayijo
Summary: It's hard to leave something you were born into.





	Repeat

**Author's Note:**

  * For [LucariosFish](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LucariosFish/gifts).

> have fun mikey

“You. Don’t tell me what to do.” A calloused finger pointed towards the nindroid’s chest. Kardin stood off to the side of a smooth, dark wooden desk with a small golden lamp barely illuminating the walls. 

The nindroid was dressed in a clean dark, black suit with a white dress shirt underneath. He stood up straight, his hands behind his back, staring dead ahead. His red eyes cut through the shadows, remaining unblinking. 

“Did you fucking hear what I said!?” A husky voice spat out, and a few moments later an angry fist came slamming down onto the table, jingling a few golden coins laid on its surface. The nindroid flinched slightly at the sound but forced himself to remain still. 

“Of course sir. It won’t happen again.” Kardin spoke, his tone monotone, lacking any sort of emotion. He gazed over at the man who was slumped in the luxurious chair behind the table, covered in shadows. 

He was probably in his forties, but it was hard to tell. His face was covered in creases, like it had been caused by frowning all the time. Multiple golden rings adorned his fingers, diamond jewels lay studded in the middle of them all. Gold chains dangled from his neck and the lenses of his glasses glinted off the lamplight, making his pale green eyes glint like a halo. 

His pitch-black suit was slightly ruffled. When he grinned, Kardin could see the cigarette stained teeth, along with three gold teeth. He was poorly shaved, and always had one of his feet tapping against the ground. There was a lit cigarette held in his right hand. 

“Well?! Don’t just stand there, you fucking waste of space, get out of my sight!” The man spat out, shaking his hand, shooing Kardin away. The nindroid did a small, curt bow, before he spun on his heel, and made his way out of the room. 

“Stupid work of nuts and bolts.” The man took a long drag of his cigarette as he watched Kardin leave. 

—

“Bring me a cup of tea, would you?” The man snapped. He was busy counting all the dollar bills from the stack held in his hands, purposely going through the bills slowly to kill some time. 

No answer. 

His eyes snapped up to where Kardin was seated in an armchair beside the door, acting as a watchdog for him. 

The nindroid was slumped over in his chair. His suit was ruffled, messy, and torn in places from continuous days of hard work. Dark circles formed underneath his eyes and his hair was a mess. His breathing was soft and quiet. 

“Hey!” 

There was a small whirring noise as Kardin awoke. His head raised itself to look at the man, red irises coming into view. He brushed his raven hair out of his face and blinked once, taking the time to straighten up his shirt. 

“Yes, sir?”

“I  _ said,  _ gimme a cup of tea. I’m losing my patience,  _ Eleven. _ ” The man spoke slowly, hatred and venom bleeding into his tone with each passing second. His grip tightened on the stack of remaining bills, the sound of crinkling paper accompanying the motion. 

_ Eleven.  _ The number was engraved in a dog tag that hung off the nindroid’s neck from a thin silver chain. 

“Of course, sir.” Kardin stood slowly, straightening his back as he nodded curtly. “However, sir, I have to remind you that my name is Ka—”

“You can’t do  _ anything _ fucking right, can you?!” The man shrieked, shooting to his feet and scattering all of the bills around to the floor. Kardin very noticeably winced at his tone, his gaze cast down at his feet. He bit his lower lip, his eyes darting around for a few seconds as he visibly shrunk away. 

“Now look at what you fucking did!” The man snarled, gesturing towards the litter of green bills on the red-carpeted floor. He growled again, chewing on one of the large gems from one of the rings on his fingers, surveying the damage. 

Kardin moved forward to clean up the mess. 

“Get out of my sight! Pathetic useless waste of my cash!”

“Of course, sir. I will be right back.” Kardin flinched again as he spoke quickly, hastily removing all hints of emotion from his voice. He got up, straightening his back before bowing curtly again. 

He whirled around. 

And then he was gone. 

—

Kardin came back with a hot mug of matcha tea. The white foam that lay on the surface was designed in a floral design, the tea softly wafting up steam. The drink took him at least ten minutes of work. He smiled softly down at the drink before he knocked quietly on the wooden door. 

“Come in.” Came the gruff voice. 

Kardin reached forward and quietly pushed open the door, listening to sound of it swinging effortlessly on its polished hinges. He could see the boss raise his head slightly to glare at him, and the nindroid raised the mug of tea as it to bring emphasis to it. 

“Bring it here.”

Kardin quietly made his way over to the side of the desk, before gently reaching down to place the mug of steaming tea onto the surface of the table, making sure to keep it in a place where the boss wouldn’t knock it over by accident. 

The man looked at it for a few seconds, before he snorted and rolled his eyes. 

“This isn’t what I asked for.”

Kardin’s eyebrows creased. He found himself searching through his memory drives, looking for the exact wordage used. 

_ “I said, gimme a cup of tea.”  _

“You did not specify the beverage you would like. So, by that logic, I have chosen to give you the drink of my choosing.”

“I said this isn’t what I wanted.” Mob boss spat in his direction, but Kardin didn’t even move an inch. He thought for a few seconds before he stood upright and straightened himself. He gently held the mug, cradling it in his hands lightly. 

“Then, sir, what  _ would _ you like?” Kardin asked softly. He cracked a small smile and the boss’s face morphed into one of complete fury and anger. 

“Don’t you talk like that to me! I fucking own you, you stupid fucking machine!” The boss swatted at Kardin, knocking the mug out of his hands. The nindroid grimaced slightly as the piping hot liquid splashed all against his black suit, the small floral design he had spent ten minutes on gone in an instant. A brief rush of pain surged itself to his sensors, and he had to hold back from letting out a small yelp. 

The mug fell against the carpet and thankfully remained intact. Kardin knelt down and picked it up, slowly, afraid that the situation would escalate. He remained kneeling on the ground, his posture slouched and looking down at the ground. 

“You’re more pathetic than any other droid I had.” The man jeered, and Kardin remained staring down at the stained carpet. 

“Fuck off! I have to get someone to clean this fucking mess. No good failure of a droid.” The man sighed loudly, glaring daggers at Kardin. Even though the nindroid wasn’t looking at him, he could feel the man’s eyes boring into the back of his head. He nodded mutely before he slowly got to his feet and made his way out of the room. 

—

Kardin was tired. He got around one hour of sleep a night, and he often leaned against the nearest wall to rest his eyes. Shadows formed underneath his eyes and he became much like a zombie: mindless, dragging himself around. 

He was getting better at his job, but that didn’t mean he didn’t get beat up. His suit would get scuffed, torn, and dirty, only replaced whenever the boss would take him out to show him off. Little scratches lined his arms, hands, and neck. 

His clothes always smelled of cigarettes. He was sure his entire time spent around smokers had permanently made the scent stain his hair and the fabric. 

People would jeer at him and say nasty words, but he just learned to filter out the noise. Only focus on the boss, and the boss only. 

—

“Hello? Sir? There’s no smoking allowed in the casino.” One of the men stationed outside the large glass sliding doors piped up, leaning towards the boss. A young chap, probably barely older than twenty. 

The boss stood there, on the final step at the doors to the grand building, a cigarette held in one of his hands, dressed in one of his obnoxious orange suits. Kardin stood rigid on the step behind him, giving the young man a gaze before staring back off ahead. 

The boss glanced over his shoulder at Kardin, who barely reacted, before he looked at the young chap once more. He made a move to toss the cigarette down on the ground, but the young man’s hands shot out to stop him. 

“Excuse me sir, but please don’t put your cigarettes out on the ground.” 

“Aw, can’t leave me alone, can you?!” The boss snapped. He looked around him before he looked up at how the building would stretch out and tower over him. He looked back at Kardin once again, who merely tilted his head slightly to the side. 

“Eleven. Come here.” The boss snapped, sloppily gesturing for Kardin to move forward. The nindroid stepped onto the final step, standing to the right of the boss. 

“Your arm. Roll up the sleeve.” The boss growled, his tone very apparent that he was in a hurry. The wind picked up slightly, sending the smoke flying in Kardin’s direction. 

Kardin did as he was told. 

He held out his exposed arm towards the boss, before turning it so that the palm was facing the sky. The young chap’s eyebrows creased in confusion for a few seconds, glancing over at them. 

The boss took his lit cigarette in his hand. 

He pressed the lit end into Kardin’s arm. The nindroid grimaced, his fingers slightly twitching as he struggled to remain still. He could feel the blazing hot heat against his skin, could feel as it definitely left a mark on his plating. 

A surge of fear and confusion felt like it would claw itself out of his chest. He was so,  _ so _ , scared for his life, the first time in his life. The boss would never hurt him, would he? 

All of it was violent words thrown his way. Boss would never  _ physically  _ hurt him.

Right?

“Here.” The boss tossed the cigarette butt in Kardin’s direction, who had just rolled down his sleeve. The nindroid caught it, but his fingers trembled as he slipped it into one of the pockets of his suit. 

“Alright listen, pretty boy, gonna let me in  _ now _ ?” The boss growled. The man standing beside the door recovered from his stunned shock, before he swallowed thickly and nodded, gesturing for them to pass through. He gave Kardin an apologetic glance, shaking his head but only so that the nindroid could see it. 

Kardin could feel his artificial heart sink. 

The boss walked through the door and Kardin trailed behind him. 

—

Wonderful. 

Just absolutely wonderful. 

Kardin gently cradled his side as he swayed down the hallway. Some members of a rival gang had jumped him on the street, and while he had managed to fight them all off, it had to come with some injuries. 

Maybe the injuries weren’t all  _ that _ bad. 

His light grey suit had dirty boot prints all over it, and he winced as his fingers traced an area of his chest that had been kicked multiple times. He gritted his teeth violently as fresh tears sprung to his eyes, but he was quick to wipe them away. 

He found himself slumping against a wall to catch his breath, his side lighting itself on fire every time he took a gasp for air. His vision swam with bright colours and it would distort. 

Okay. Maybe this was serious. 

He forced himself to continue forward. He had to. He just needed to make his way to his room. 

He grumbled as he planted a hand against the wall to steady himself. He struggled to right himself, but his feet kept tripping over one another, his legs feeling like jello. 

He found himself on his hands and knees, gasping as a swarm of pain overtook him once more. He let out a choking gasp before his arms buckled out from underneath him and he collapsed onto his side. The world spun violently and he struggled to obtain a sense of direction. He gasped pathetically, trying to clear the tightness in his chest. 

Distant voices came from somewhere behind him, just down the hall. 

Dammit. 

It was fellow gang members. 

Kardin forced his arms to move, planting a left palm onto the ground as he weakly pushed himself upward into a seated position. His legs strained to move him up, but he barely even lifted his body three inches off the floor before his legs collapsed again. 

He cried out, squeezing his eyes shut. 

He just wanted all of this to stop hurting. He wanted the pain to go away. 

He tried again. 

No use. 

The voices got louder and clearer. From what Kardin could tell, there was a conversation going on. His breath hitched, fear building up in the back of his throat at the thought of the assault that would come his way if they saw him like  _ this— _

“Oh shit! It’s Eleven!” A sharp, shrill voice sneered from behind him, and it took all of Kardin’s willpower not to wince. His hands curled into fists and his arms shook with strain as he attempted to get up.

“Aw fuck, what’s gotten him so beat up? The little robot got all hurt?” Another voice spoke in a mock-pity tone, and there was a wave of jeering laughter. Kardin flinched before he managed to push himself up to his feet, swallowing the scream of pain that had almost tore itself out of his mouth. He turned around to face them. 

“Stay down you little bitch!” Kardin could barely even react before he found himself back on the ground, his left cheek stinging with pain. He whimpered softly, a hand reaching up to cradle his face, but his face soon morphed into an emotionless one, and he stared down at the ground like he normally would. 

“You couldn’t even protect yourself against that? What sort of security guard  _ are  _ you?” A third voice joined in, and the three of the gang members began howling with laughter. 

Kardin attempted to stand up once more. He stood slightly slumped over, glancing over at the trio of gang members who stood towering over him. He shrank back slightly, his fight-or-flight response kicking in immediately. He knew that he couldn’t fight back, knowing that he would be punished severely. He bit his bottom lip for a few seconds.

He turned around and walked away.

A hand grabbed his suit from behind and he was dragged backwards. He was roughly slammed against the tile floor, wincing once his back crashed into the ground. He whimpered softly as there was a harsh kick to his ribs, his arms shooting upwards to shield his head. He turned over onto his side, curling into the fetal position. 

The kicking wouldn’t stop. There were kicks to his back and chest area, a harsh punch to his face. His hands shot up to cover his cheek, and there was a sudden kick to his chin. His head shot back, and he tasted oil in his mouth. He cried out again, feeling as something in his mouth dislodged. 

_ “Look at the little thing. Can’t even protect himself.” _

_ “Worthless piece of trash.” _

_ “Useless waste of space. I’ve never seen a droid as useless as you.” _

All Kardin could do was just curl up there and just take it. 

—

A punch from his boss.

—

Cigarettes being put out on his arms.

—

Kicks to his body.

—

Harsh words. 

—

He wasn’t sure how long he could take it. 

Any day could be his last. Just one wrong move and he would be done for.

—

Kardin never knew he could feel so much relief. 

He had just plucked a small child off the street after they had run into traffic chasing after a balloon. He made a move to lightly scold child before a loud bang had rung out. The sound had tore itself through his sound sensors, leaving a ringing noise in his ears.

Sniper.

Citizens scattered in every direction, screaming and tripping over one another as they attempted to flee. Kardin flinched before he sprung into action, immediately diving to the ground, positioning himself so that he could shield the child with his entire body. 

He threw his arms over their small shaking form, curling his body around their back.

But there were no more shots. No more screaming.

No more noise. 

Kardin glanced upwards, scanning his surroundings. 

The entire plaza was now empty. Abandoned personal items lay scattered all over the floor. A stray newspaper pushed itself along the ground from the wind. Overturned strollers and backpacks lay flung around the floor. 

He uncurled himself around the child and told them to run, watching as they took off down one of the alleyways connecting to a large plaza. 

He brushed himself off before he stood completely, turning to face where his boss and a few gang members had stood.

Except, this time, the boss was on the floor.

Dark red blood and brain matter splattered itself onto the ground from a fist-sized hole on the right side of his face, where his eye was. The glasses lay on the ground, one of the lenses completely shattered from the shot. He lay half sprawled out of the limo that he had stepped out of. His head and torso lay on the ground but his legs stayed in the car. 

His left eye was glazed over, dead green eye staring in Kardin’s direction, his mouth half-open in a yell. The interior of the limo was also slightly splattered in blood, blood running down the boss’s orange suit and white dress shirt underneath.

The woman sitting beside him in the limo was screaming bloody murder with blood splattered over her dress and face.

Kardin’s eyes snapped around, taking in all the other gang members that stood around the limo.

He could register that they were reaching for their holsters.

There was no way that he could be able to fight them all off. And given that the boss that he was serving was now dead, he wasn’t obligated to stay behind. He could see as they pulled out pistols before he spun on his heel and bolted. 

He cringed as he could hear shots ringing out, his arms shielding his head as he swerved to the left and bolted down an alleyway. He could hear them screaming and yelling as he made random turns, hearing as shots chipped off the brick of the buildings surrounding him. 

_ “Run run run.” _

He wasn’t sure for how long that he had run for before one of his legs completely gave out from underneath him. He crashed to the ground before a flaring pain came shooting up from his left knee up to his skull. He gasped, his vision blurring for a second as he pushed himself up into a seated position.

He glanced down at his left knee. 

The metal was completely torn open from a shot. Black oil-stained his light gray suit, dripping down onto the ground. It was then that he registered to pain in several places on his body. Adrenaline probably had kept the pain away until he had run a safe distance. He could feel a burning cold feeling on his right shoulder, and another one on his right bicep. 

There was one that grazed his left shoulder, the skin tore open from a bullet that was still lodged in his body. 

And there was one on the right side of his abdomen. Blood slowly seeped into the shredded part of his suit. His left hand shakily reached over to grip itself over the wound, trying to keep the pain at bay. He shakily got to his feet, but immediately fell over again. 

The shot must’ve obliterated his knee joint. 

He glanced around for a few seconds before he attempted to hobble up onto one leg. 

He screamed out in pain as he fell over onto his front. His vision darkened as he gasped for breath, his arms reaching out as he dragged himself on the cold pavement, leaving a trail of dark black oil on the asphalt. 

He had to get somewhere safe.

He had to.

There was talking from somewhere down the main alleyway. 

_ “No no no no!”  _

He didn’t want to go back there. He couldn’t. He struggled to get to his feet, but his legs made questionable creaking noises as he struggled to get to his feet. He cried out again, failing to hold back the sob that tore itself out of his throat.

A pause.

“Shit, did you hear that?” 

_ “No!”  _ Panic filled Kardin’s mind like water. He scrambled around for a while, trying to drag him on the ground faster. His torn open knee joint scrapped on the pavement, making a noise akin to rusty metal. 

Footsteps drew near.

Kardin found himself staring up at four figures who gazed down upon his broken body.

—

“Woah! Kardin buddy!” Rae had to duck out of the way as Kardin stumbled into the kitchen after a long mission the night previous. The human laughed softly, flipping around at the overcooked bacon strips in the pan that he had slapped onto the stove. The nindroid stared at them for a few seconds before he sleepily rubbed at his eye.

“You ever...cooked before? You’re not supposed to scorch them.” Kardin took a break in the middle of his sentence to yawn, covering his mouth with his hand. Rae chuckled, shaking his head as he looked at the nindroid. 

“Hey now! Don’t tell me what to do!” Rae laughed softly, running a hand through his long, dark brown locks of hair. 

Kardin froze up.

_ “You. Don’t tell me what to do.” _

“I— I’m sorry!” Kardin cried out, scrambling backwards slightly. Rae turned in his direction, looking slightly startled. His eyebrows creased in concern before he made his way over to Kardin. Panic took hold of Kardin’s breathing, and he scrambled back even more. He bent down a bit, giving a curt bow. 

“I— I’m sorry! I just— give me a second chance! Please! I— I just need a second chance! Please don’t hurt me. Please!!” Kardin cried out. His hands held out in front of him in fists in a defensive stance, his eyes squeezing themselves shut. He could hear Rae softly approach him, flinching at the noise.

He could feel as hands wrapped around him. 

He whimpered softly, shrinking away from the touch. 

Rae pulled him in tight. Kardin blinked in confusion for a second before his arms shot out to wrap around in the human in return. He buried his face in Rae’s shoulder, a warm feeling filling his chest as he shook softly.

“No one is gonna hurt you, buddy.” Rae whispered softly, running his hand up and down Kardin’s back. The nindroid nodded meekly against Rae’s shoulder, tears silently trailing down his cheeks. 

Kardin hugged tighter.

“It’s okay.” Rae laughed, who also tightened up his hug in return.

“It’s okay.”


End file.
